In diagnostic imaging it is desirable to be able to examine phases of blood flow to look for abnormalities. The ability to individually look at arterial, capillary, and venous phases simplifies a diagnosis and treatment workflow and produces improved consistency. There are some procedures in which it is advantageous to be able to visualize either the arteries or the veins independently of one another, as some ailments primarily affect either arteries or veins. It is also desirable to be able to visualize both the arteries and veins simultaneously, but with the arteries and veins depicted differently (e.g. in different colors). This is especially helpful when interactions between arteries and veins are of interest; for example in diagnosing, evaluating, or treating Arterial Venous Malformations (AVMs) or fistulae.
In known angiography systems a user manually selects image frames of interest and manually generates composite images of arterial or venous frames. A user is responsible for identifying the vessel phases of each image frame which is a burdensome and time consuming task. A system according to invention principles addresses these requirements and associated problems.